After the devastating storms that affected our area last week, one group of students at a local high school are ready to help aid storm victims, and in a very unselfish way.
Mary Kathrine Dawkins’ Transition/Life Skills class at South Pittsburg High School have been working hard all school year to raise money for an annual class trip. At the end of each school year, Dawkins, and her assistant, Elizabeth Mount, accompany the class on a trip (usually to a nearby beach) to celebrate the end of school each year. Some of these students have never had the opportunity to see the beach, much less travel until this trip.
This year the class worked hard to raise money by selling soft drinks, making “spirit buttons” for school events and ball games, as well as putting their button-making skills to work to make campaign buttons at election time. Their hard work resulted in the class raising $2,000, which they decided to use for a trip to Tybee Island, GA later this month.
With the news of last week’s storms and all of the local devastation, the class wanted some way to help victims of the storm from around our area. They met Monday and unanimously voted to give the money to victims of the tornado that affected nearby Bridgeport, AL.
Teachers Dawkins and Mount gave their full support of their decision and went to SPHS Principal Allen Pratt to get final permission to continue with the wishes of the class, of which he obliged.
Mrs. Mount says she’s very proud of her students. “They were thinking of others at this time instead of themselves. It’s a true life lesson, and I’m proud of them.”
The class has decided to donate the money to a Bridgeport family who lost their 12 year old son in Wednesday’s storms. The family’s home was also severely damaged, and the mother remains in an area hospital in critical condition.
The class hopes the money they raised will help this local family in their time of need to cover medical expenses and funeral expenses for their departed loved one.
When we told one local resident about the decision the class made, they summed it up best by saying, “In times like these with all of the bad press schools are getting around the nation, it’s good to see that we have raised a group of children in our community with big hearts and unselfish minds.”
